The US Department of Justice FIles AntiTrust Lawsuit Against Apple and 6 Publishers for Ebook Price Fixing -
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and six e-book publishers over alleged collusion to fix e-book prices. The antitrust suit was filed in US District Court in New York on Wednesday morning against Apple, Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, and Simon & Schuster.
Attorney General Eric Holder unveiled the federal suit at a Washington news conference today. "As a result of this alleged conspiracy, we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles," he said. Within hours of the filing, Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster agreed to settle with the DOJ while not admitting any violation of federal law. Penguin and Macmillan did not join the settlement.
Under the agreement, the publishers agreed to terminate any existing deals with Apple or any other seller of e-books that "restricts, limits, or impedes the e-book retailer’s ability to set, alter, or reduce the retail price of any e-book."
They also agreed not to enter into such deals for at least two years.
In addition, the agreement bars the publishers from retaliating against any retailer setting, altering, or reducing the retail price any e-book.
You can view the actual lawsuit at
www.scribd.com/doc/88914382/U-S-v-Apple-et-al-e-book-complaint